


Happy Birthday... For Next Year

by pitterpatterpot



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Everyone else - Freeform, Gen, birthday angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:28:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21884515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pitterpatterpot/pseuds/pitterpatterpot
Summary: Little Cato waited for over sixty years to be able to celebrate his birthday, and now he can... in Final Space.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Happy Birthday... For Next Year

**Author's Note:**

> Our boy deserves more.

Little Cato puffs out a breath, staring at the wall as he lays on his bed.

Three years ago he would have woken up and jumped out of bed, running to wake up Avocato so they could go to the shooting range together.

(Training was the closest they got to quality time.)

“Hey, Ventrexian, we gotta get to the bridge for lookout.”

Little Cato jumps down from the top bunk, following Fox out to the bridge. It doesn’t really matter. He went sixty years without even knowing what the date was, much less celebrate it. He doubts Avocato even remembers it.

No, that’s an awful thing to think. He would remember the date. He just wouldn’t know that today is that day. Even Gary doesn’t know.

“Sup, SC!” Gary grins from the pilots chair, everyone gathered on the bridge. “We’re just doing some maintenance checks!”

“Cool, I’ll go check on the light-fold engines,” Little Cato jerks his thumb over his shoulder, turning back around.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths are what’s needed. Even as he crouches down and messes with the wiring, no one coming to talk to him or even spare a single word of thought.

It’s ten minutes later when Avocato and Gary walk in, both of them crouching down by their son. Little Cato immediately grins, straightening to face his father. Avocato smiles and ruffles his son’s mohawk, Gary grinning and leaning back on his hands.

“So, son,” Gary nods to the light-fold engines. “Nearly done?”

“Yeah, just about,” Little Cato places the covering back on the control panel. “What’s up? Oh! Do you need me back on the bridge? I’ll come back to the bridge-“

“Little Cato,” Avocato interrupts sharply. “I- happy birthday, son.”

Relief immediately flows through Little Cato’s chest, the younger Ventrexian crashing into Avocato’s side and squeezing his father’s ribs. Avocato cups the back of his son’s head with his hand, chuckling deeply. Little Cato springs back, still grinning, eyes darting to the door before turning around and tackling Gary. The blonde man laughs, head tipped back as he engulfs Little Cato in his arms, soon twisting him around into a gentle headlock and ruffling his hair. Little Cato laughs and wriggles free, jumping to his feet.

“I’m gonna go tell the others and-“

“I told Gary this morning,” Avocato interrupts. “But… not the others.”

“Well yeah, so I’ll tell them and-“

“Little Cato,” Gary interrupts gently, grimacing and looking away. “I don’t think now would be such a great time to celebrate. Not with Quinn being the way she is, and everyone being on edge.”

“Well, yeah,” Little Cato slowly sits back on his haunches. “We’re not gonna celebrate, I know that. I just thought that they’d want to know.”

“They’ll try to celebrate,” Avocato seems to wince, smoothing the action over by looking at the door. “I’m sorry son, we just don’t have the resources right now, energy-wise or food-wise.”

“Yeah, of course,” Little Cato says quietly, eyes flicking away. “No, I know that, Dad. I just haven’t really celebrated in a while, that’s all.”

Gary wraps an arm around Little Cato’s shoulder and squeezes. “We’ll celebrate when we get to of here, little buddy.”

Something curls in Little Cato’s stomach. His father never was the type for birthdays. Not even his own. He always seemed to be able to put up with Little Cato’s birthdays though. Begrudgingly, yes, but he always sat through whatever event Little Cato dragged him to. But Gary? Gary seems like the type of guy that would scream birthdays…

But they are in a hell dimension. And Quinn is… broken. She’s broken. And they’re all tired, both his father’s clearly exhausted just like everybody else on the ship who barely have the energy to stand, much less celebrate. Both Gary and Avocato look devastated, clearly guilty at the idea of there being no birthday. Little Cato sucks in a breath and plasters on a smile.

“All good,” he sits between his father’s, “but when we get out of here you guys are taking me out on the most awesome birthday _ever_.”

Gary relaxes significantly, even Avocato seeming to unwind slightly. “Oh, you know it little dude! You’re gonna have the best birthday ever once we get outta here!”

They jest and joke a little bit more before Avocato and Gary head back to the bridge. Little Cato watches them go, grinning and bouncing on the balls of his fuzzy feat. Once the door closes he slowly stops, sitting down and reopening the panels to the wires. He busies his hands, breathing in deeply to quell the thickness in his belly.

They’ll celebrate it when they get out. He went over sixty years without a birthday, he can wait a little bit longer.

Yeah, he can wait. He’ll wait _so_ _good_. They’ll get out and then they can celebrate. And if it takes over year? Then so what. He’ll just celebrate _two birthdays_ when they get out. He can handle that. A few more years won’t kill him. They’ll get around to it.

Yeah, he’ll wait _so good_ for his birthday.

**Author's Note:**

> I kept putting off writing this, even though today is Little Cato's canon birthday. So it got me thinking... if I kept putting in off for stupid reasons, then surviving in Final Space seems like a pretty big excuse to skip a birthday.


End file.
